Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-02-Speech-3-089"
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"en.20010502.7.3-089"2
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Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the establishment of clear rules for public access to documents is absolutely essential, both in terms of the proper functioning of the Community institutions and also, as has just been mentioned, in order to reinforce the institutions’ democratic legitimacy in the eyes of the European Union’s citizens. The Commission therefore believes that the draft regulation before us today is of particular importance and significance.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that, in implementing this regulation, we are doing the institutions and citizens of the European Union a good turn. I would like to assure you that the Commission is fully aware of the importance of this text and is committed to implementing it diligently and efficiently, not only because this is our duty, but because I am deeply convinced – and it is in this spirit that I myself worked alongside you and the Council Presidency from the moment Mr Prodi entrusted me with this task – that this text will considerably enhance the democratic legitimacy of the EU institutions.
Mrs Lejon, I would like to say how pleased I am to see that following many months of intensive work, the representatives of the three institutions have managed to draw up a text, which I believe is both clear and balanced, and which been approved by the Committee on Citizens’ Freedom and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs of this Parliament, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States and the Commission itself. It is now the task of Parliament to deliver a completely independent opinion on the outcome of this work.
At this point, Mr President, I would like to express my most sincere thanks to the rapporteurs, Mr Cashman and the co-rapporteurs, Mrs Maij-Weggen and Mrs Hautala, Mr Watson, the Chairman and the members of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms, for the work they have carried out over 15 or 16 months and for the receptive and tenacious attitude that they have shown.
I would also like to praise the efforts of the Swedish Presidency, and you yourself, Mrs Lejon and your whole team, which has tried successfully to reconcile differing points of view, which, as we know only too well, is not always an easy task, and for having made the draft regulation compatible with the various administrative procedures in the Member States.
As the rapporteurs stressed earlier, the draft regulation represents a major step forward compared to current practices and, as a result, it brings the Community system a step closer to the system used by the Member States that are the most advanced in the field of transparency. Naturally, ladies and gentlemen, the text is probably far from perfect. It is very likely that not everybody will be pleased with every aspect.
I heard Mrs Hautala use a symbolic expression earlier, involving Russian dolls. Mrs Hautala, I do not think that you will find Mr Solana if you open all the boxes. In my view, Mr Solana’s standing and personality are of a much higher level and far more important than your description of them earlier. It is true, however, that once you have started to open the boxes or the Russian dolls, and you notice that there is something inside, it will then be difficult to stop yourself. To this extent, the picture that you painted is probably fair and symbolic, on this point in any case.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Commission believes that this text does indeed strike a fair balance between the specific characteristics of each institution and the practices within the Member States. In this respect, it does, in all sincerity, represent the best possible compromise. The Commission, therefore, officially accepts all the amendments tabled today by the rapporteurs and which were approved on 25 April 2001 by the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms, chaired by Mr Watson. I hope that the European Parliament will also support the opinions and recommendations made by your rapporteurs, so that we can adopt this regulation and effectively implement it as soon as possible.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the nature of the documents created and held by each institution, as well as the volume of the documents processed, does indeed reflect their specific characteristics and their roles, which are both different and complementary. Out of the three institutions, the Commission is by far the one which handles the largest amount of documents. The nature of these documents varies greatly, due to its variety of tasks, ranging from initiating legislation to acting as Guardian of the Treaties and guarantor of Community law and to ensuring respect for Community law. The Commission is, therefore, perfectly aware of the fact that the main responsibility for implementing the regulation on public access to documents will fall on its shoulders.
It is precisely because of this two-fold objective, which is, on the one hand, to ensure the public has the widest access to documents and, on the other hand, to ensure the respect of Community law, that the Commission has carefully considered which system to use with regard to the sensitive issue of infringement proceedings. The Commission wishes to state here in Parliament, and will also state to the Council, that, in a spirit of compromise and as proposed by the rapporteurs, Mr Cashman and Mrs Maij-Weggen in particular, the Commission can accept that infringement proceedings are not included in the derogations specified in the regulation, since it believes that this approach would not have an adverse effect on the fulfilment of its responsibilities in ensuring respect for Community law."@en1
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